Melbourne boy taken to hospital with burns after playing with fire and petrol

By Dan ConiferUpdated
Sun 16 Jun 2013, 4:40 PM AEST

An 11-year-old boy has been treated for burns after playing with fire and petrol in Melbourne's north-east.

He and another boy were dropping burning paper into petrol-filled containers at a house in Bellfield when a fire erupted about 8:30pm.

The fire brigade said the boy received burns to 30 per cent of his body, including to his head, arms and torso.

It said the boy's injuries easily could have been worse if his mother had not immediately put him into the shower

The fire was quickly extinguished and the boy was taken to Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.

Steve Dorman from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade said parents need to teach children about the dangers of fire.

"If not for the actions of the mother, and then firefighters, the child might have suffered greater injuries," he said.

"Parents need to be mindful fire lighting behaviour can occur in most children.

"There is always a fascination with fire.

"It's fundamentally a part of parenting that when we are watching our children grow and develop that if they do witness some fire-lighting behaviours that these are acted upon, because you can end up with injuries," he said.